Patentable/Patents/US-8537434
US-8537434

Image reading device and image forming apparatus

PublishedSeptember 17, 2013
Assigneenot available in USPTO data we have
Inventorsnot available in USPTO data we have
Technical Abstract

An image reading device includes: a plurality of light sources that are arranged in a row and emit light; a light guide body that guides the light emitted from the plurality of light sources to a reading portion and transmits light reflected from the reading portion; a carriage having the plurality of light sources and the light guide body; and a reading unit that receives the light reflected from the reading portion and reads an image on the reading portion.

Patent Claims
6 claims

Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.

1

1. An image reading device comprising: a plurality of light sources that are arranged in a row and emit light; a light guide body that guides the light emitted from the plurality of light sources to a reading portion and transmits light reflected from the reading portion, a surface roughness of an upper surface of the light guide body being equal to or less than 0.1 μm in terms of surface roughness measured by the arithmetic mean roughness Ra of JIS-B-0601; a carriage having the plurality of light sources and the light guide body; and a reading unit that receives the light reflected from the reading portion and reads an image on the reading portion.

2

2. The image reading device according to claim 1 , wherein at least part of the light guide body projects toward an optical axis of an optical path which guides the light reflected from the reading portion to the reading unit more than an upper member, the upper member being a part of the carriage and being located above the light guide body.

3

3. The image reading device according to claim 2 , wherein a horizontal distance from the optical axis to an end portion of the upper member on the optical axis side is equal to or greater than 12 mm.

4

4. The image reading device according to claim 1 , wherein the light guide body is transparent.

5

5. An image forming apparatus comprising: the image reading device according to claim 1 ; and an image forming component that forms an image on the basis of information of an image read by the reading unit of the image reading device.

6

6. An image reading device comprising: a plurality of light sources that are arranged in a row and emit light; a light guide body that guides the light emitted from the plurality of light sources to a reading portion and transmits light reflected from the reading portion; a carriage having the plurality of light sources and the light guide body; and a reading unit that receives the light reflected from the reading portion and reads an image on the reading portion, wherein at least part of the light guide body projects toward an optical axis of an optical path which guides the light reflected from the reading portion to the reading unit more than an upper member, the upper member being a part of the carriage and being located above the light guide body, and wherein a horizontal distance from the optical axis to an end portion of the upper member on the optical axis side is equal to or greater than 12 mm.

Classification Codes (CPC)

Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.

Patent Metadata

Filing Date

March 18, 2010

Publication Date

September 17, 2013

Want to explore more patents?

Browse 5M+ US patents with plain-English claim translations and AI-generated analysis.

Citation & reuse

Analysis on this page is generated by Patentable — an AI-powered patent intelligence platform. AI-generated summaries, explanations, and analysis may be reused with attribution and a visible link back to the canonical URL below. Patent abstracts and claims are USPTO public domain.

Cite as: Patentable. “Image reading device and image forming apparatus” (US-8537434). https://patentable.app/patents/US-8537434

© 2026 Patentable. All rights reserved.

Patentable is a research and drafting-assistant tool, not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. Documents we generate are drafts for review by a licensed patent attorney.